For the past 7 years, Puerto Rico has had a very critical shortage of practicing Physicians,
yet their highly trained counterparts, Physician Associates/Assistants are severely restricted from practicing
to the fullest scope of practice allowed by law in the island. Many studies have shown
Physician Assistants can provide accessible life-saving care across all medical
specialties and subspecialties, but arbitrary partisan laws prevent them from
providing cost-efficient patient-centered care to those in most need: the 3.2
million disenfranchised Puerto Ricans from a broken politicized healthcare infrastructure system.
Today, nearly all Puerto
Rican citizens lack the basic medical care services they need for the management of their chronic
medical illnesses/conditions. Unfortunately, worsening a bad situation, the U.S. government
declared a public healthcare emergency back in August 2016 due to an alarming rate of
Zika infections followed shortly by the devastating effects of hurricanes Maria and Irma
back to back in 2017. To this day, many other socioeconomic infrastructures have yet to recover fully from this.
Those who have been following this Public Health crisis
closely ( much like this author has), know that the root causes of The Puerto Rican healthcare crisis are complex,
stemming from a myriad of many problems; ranging from economic shortfalls (budget
constraints, etc.) to the duopoly of warring partisan factions when it comes to legislation as seen with
the passage of “LEY #71”( law 71) in 2017.
Puerto Rican policymakers, along with other industry
stakeholders as well as opposing nursing groups, and ultimately The Collegio the
Medicos Cirujanos of Puerto Rico have all failed collectively to become aware of the benefits of the PA profession by failing to recognize the
one method of alleviating PR’s strained healthcare system: the utilization of
PAs to assist the depleted corps of physicians on the island. PAs have well over 50 years proven their ability as competent & empathetic providers not only in the US but
around the globe. Especially in more recent times, including with the Veterans
Administration Hospital in Puerto Rico.
Physician Assistants are highly trained
in general medicine and are part of a patient-centered healthcare team. PAs
improve access to care for underserved populations by diagnosing, treating, and
preventing disease. PAs are trusted health care providers, licensed to practice
and authorized to prescribe medication in all 50 states, the District of
Columbia, and all U.S. territories with the exception of Puerto Rico.
Please urge your fellow colleagues to support us in changing this draconian practice setting/law so that the people of Puerto Rico can have increased access to medical services. Shouldn’t
it be time PAs are allowed to make a difference during this time of extreme need
in Puerto Rico?
